The Distressed Body by Drew Leder download in pdf, ePub, iPad

Leder suggests that rethinking the body and the entire material world as wondrous gifts could align our consumption and production of healthcare with our values. This has profound implications for our treatment of the rest of the living world as well. By feeling those connections and rethinking our assumptions, we may open ourselves up to possibilities for a society that makes room for all the inhabitants of our rapidly shrinking planet. Patients often accuse their doctors and families of not understanding what they are going through, while they themselves are confused by what they are feeling.

His academic writing style is demanding. There is comfort in making sense of the pain and coming to see that it can be borne. Along the way, we discover that these are not two different worlds. Leder approaches the subject as a philosopher and professor. Leder taught philosophy in a Maryland penitentiary and invited the participants to represent their experiences in their own words, which they do to great effect.

The health story continues with a general analysis of our medical system and the tension between reveling in its contributions to our happiness and decrying its objectification of the human body. The latter is easily forgotten by those of us whose pursuits are primarily intellectual and whose pastimes are electronic.

The first few chapters are concerned with our relationship to our bodies in the face of disease. He suffered severe emotional distress as a result of the accident. Buy from QuakerBooks To be human means to lead both a cerebral and a corporeal existence.